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Paterson’s Ethics Veto Survives Override Vote

ALBANY — The Legislature failed Monday to override Gov. David A. Paterson’s veto of legislation intended to require greater transparency and accountability in public office.

Although the State Assembly voted 136 to 2 to override the governor, the measure failed in the State Senate, where the vote broke down mainly along party lines. One Democrat joined 25 Republicans in sustaining the veto. Mr. Paterson, a Democrat, has said the bill amounted to little more than minimal reform.

The Senate debate laid bare the acrimony between Republicans and Democrats, who traded accusations over which party was to blame for blocking ethics reform at a time when several political corruption scandals have reinforced the stereotype that Albany is rife with favor trading and influence peddling.

Democrats accused Republicans of being hypocritical for voting against the bill, which they unanimously supported when it first came to a vote last month.

“Senate Republicans have killed ethics reform in Albany,” Senator John L. Sampson, the chamber’s Democratic leader, said after the vote. “I had hoped today’s vote would be the first break in the Albany logjam.”

Republicans, who complained that they were excluded from the talks that resulted in the bill that the governor vetoed, said the veto should inspire Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature to sit down with the governor and negotiate legislation that is truly bipartisan.

“We all acknowledge that we could do better,” said Senator Stephen M. Saland, a Republican who represents Columbia County and part of Dutchess County. “And in fact, the governor’s veto offers the opportunity to do that.”

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The override was a difficult choice for many Republicans, who had to weigh the risk of being attacked for opposing an ethics law overhaul if they did not vote with the Democrats. Only four Republicans ended up voting for the override on Monday.

“You get to the point where it’s a decision between doing something bad and doing something not so bad,” said Senator Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican. “The decision to override was not so bad.”

Mr. Paterson objected to the bill because, among other things, it left the Legislature in charge of appointing its own oversight body. Over the weekend his office drafted new legislation — which has some Republican support — that would establish independent ethics review commissions for the Legislature and the executive branch.

The governor said Monday that he was inflexible on that point. “We are still insisting on the independent nature of these commissions in that they cannot be appointed by the Legislature,” he said.

But with partisan acrimony running high in the Capitol, and Mr. Paterson’s relationship with the Legislature strained considerably, some said any compromise on ethics would be difficult to reach.

“It’s very possible that this is the death knell for ethics reform for the rest of the year,” said Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

A version of this article appears in print on February 9, 2010, on Page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: Paterson’s Ethics Veto Survives Override Vote. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe